A is for Atom
by Dorus the Walrus
Summary: The Muggle World and the Wizarding World have remained separated for centuries. But, as the Muggle World begins to disintegrate, Percy and the rest of Wizarding Britain is going to have to deal with it whether they like it or not. AU. Rated for carnage.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note – Well, I'm currently stuck on "My Brother's Keeper", so, like a bad author, I've decided to start another Percy fic, complete with Percy-angst.

**A is for Atom**

Percy smiled to himself as he entered the compartment that the other sixth-year Prefects had claimed as their own.

More specifically, Percy entered the compartment that _Penelope_ was sitting in.

Ever since the two had met at their first Prefect meeting they had become inseparable. Percy would freely admit that he was not a guy's guy; the closest male friend that Percy could claim was Oliver Wood, and that's only because Percy had lived with him for five years and was more or less capable of putting up with his constant prattle on Quidditch. But he had had plenty of female friends. He had just never thought of dating one these friends… until now. Even though he had just met her last year she had quickly become his best friend. Percy didn't know how to describe it; it was like she had known him his entire life.

"Hello." Percy said, nearly kicking himself when he heard his voice come out shy and soft. Penelope didn't seem to notice however and quickly moved over to make room for him next to her, a large smile blossoming across her face.

Louise McDaniels, the 6th year Hufflepuff Prefect, also smiled up at him, but Percy couldn't help but notice that her smile looked a little strained. She was sitting across from Penelope and kept nervously looking back out the window at the platform where her parents were standing.

"I wonder where everyone else is?" Penelope mused as she browsed through one of her schoolbooks. She quickly glanced at Percy before blushing and returning to her book.

"Oh, I saw John and Lola talking to some people. I haven't seen Will, or Grimley or Avery for that matter." Percy answered. He didn't notice Penelope's blush or her study of him, however. His eyes were fixed on Louise. "Louise… are you alright? You seem upset."

Louise gave a little jump. "Oh… well, nothing to really worry about I'm sure." She said quickly, but Percy could hear the fear in her voice. "It's just that… There have been some problems in the Muggle World lately, and I'm worried for my parents. While I'm safe at Hogwarts, they'll still be… out there."

Penelope leaned forward. "What's going on? Mum doesn't really keep up with Muggle news anymore, not since Dad was transferred to a more Wizarding town."

Louise looked down, refusing to meet any of their eyes. It was obvious that she was more than just worried. She seemed down-right afraid. "The newspapers have been saying that there might be a war. I don't really know what it's about… I don't understand it…" Louise trailed off and turned back to the window.

Penelope and Percy looked at each other, each trying to think of something to say to bring Louise out of her brooding.

"Oh… err… I didn't know." Penelope offered lamely. Percy cringed at Penelope's poor attempt at comfort. But at least she was able to say something; Percy hadn't even been able to do that. These sort of things really weren't Percy's field of expertise. Neither were they Penelope's for that matter.

Minutes ticked by and Percy glanced at his watch. Two minutes late, a first for the Hogwarts Express. He noticed Louise suddenly frown and stand up, squinting hard into the crowd.

"Something's going on." She said.

Penelope and Percy immediately stood up as well and looked out. It was true; every face in the crowd looked confused as a soft, puzzled murmur rippled through the people. Percy could spot his mother's own worried face.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Penelope asked.

Percy strained to block out the sounds of the crowd. Then he heard it; the muffled sound of people yelling. It sounded like it was coming from the Muggle side of the train station. A deep fear settled in the pit of Percy's stomach; he wanted his brothers and sister with him. He needed them with him. He had to make sure they were all right. He suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Ron board the train. Where was Ron? He wasn't still out there in the Muggle side, was he?

"I'm going to go find my siblings, okay?" He stated, his voice barely above a whisper.

Penelope nodded. "I'll go with you, if that's alright."

Louise said nothing, but continued to stare out the window. Percy and Penelope looked at each other before filing out of the compartment. As Percy was closing the door he looked back and saw a bright light suddenly shatter through the bricks that separated the Muggle World from the Wizarding World. It engulfed everything, including the people on the platform. For one second, Louise was illuminated by this brilliant light. She looked like some sort of heavenly creature. Percy quickly slammed the door shut as a wave of pressure suddenly overcame him, and he was sure he felt himself lifted into the air. He watched as the sides and the roof of the train crumbled in on itself and the glass shatter, but heard no sound. It took him a second before he realized that it was not just him that was flying through the air, but the train as well. He didn't feel anything after that.


	2. Chapter 2

**A is for Atom**

Percy thought he could hear someone screaming, but the ringing in his ears overwhelmed any other sound.

He glanced around; everything was fuzzy. He must have lost his glasses. He couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. He saw the shape of girl with long blonde hair, tugging at something underneath the wreckage. It was a person. Who it was Percy couldn't tell, it was just a black and red blob.

Suddenly, Percy realized that he _hurt_ and a groan escaped his mouth.

The blonde girl whipped her head around and quickly crawled over to him. She leaned over and Percy could see her face more clearly. It was Penelope. She was crying.

"I thought you were dead!" She yelled as her sobs became harsher. Her voice sounded like rough gravel.

"What happened?" Percy asked as Penelope gently helped him into a sitting position.

"I think… I think they blew us up."

"Who?"

"I don't know." Penelope admitted, rubbing her sooty sleeve underneath her running nose.

"How?"

Penelope just shrugged. Percy's confusion grew more intense. Did the Muggles do this? Was it that war that Louise was talking about? How could they possibly have enough power to cause that much damage? Not even You-Know-Who had been able to do something like this!

"I need… I need to find Ginny, and Ron, and the Twins." Percy struggled to get up with Penelope holding on to him like a vice.

Penelope nodded as they looked around. "Yes, I think… everyone in this car is dead. Except for you. And me." She glanced at the scattered debris, her eyes taking in all of the gory details that Percy was blissfully unaware of. She looked back up at him. "Before we go, we've got to fix your face."

"Huh?" Percy asked, confused as to what she was talking about. "What's wrong with my face?"

Penelope looked startled and, if Percy was seeing correctly, frightened. "You don't feel that? Your face… hold on, I can fix it." Penelope muttered as she pulled off her Muggle jacket. She wrapped it partially around Percy's head. Feeling her hands pressing down made his skull feel like mush.

"What about my face?" Percy asked, trying to shake the confusion that seemed to have taken permanent residence in his brain.

"Never mind." Penelope said curtly. "It'll be fine for now. Let's just go."

The two carefully walked through the car with Penelope holding Percy's hand in a death grip. Percy was desperately trying to remember where his siblings had said they were going to sit. He was sure the Twins were near the back, if not in the last car. Was Ginny with them? Did Ron even get on the train?

As they made their way through they realized that exiting their own car would be challenge. The heat of the… whatever… had welded the door shut.

"We could use _Confringo_." Penelope suggested. "But I don't have my wand. I don't know where it went to."

Percy tentatively put his hand inside his jacket pocket. Every movement caused a ripple of searing pain to radiate throughout his entire body, but the pain was pushed out of his mind when his hands wrapped around something long, thin, and wooden. 16 inches, pine with a dragon heartstring core. "I still have mine. But is _Confringo_ a good idea? There might be somebody still alive on the other side. _Confringo_ would seriously hurt them, if not outright kill them."

Penelope shrugged. "The only other thing that I can think of is to Apparate to the other side."

"But neither one of us has gotten our licenses yet." Percy pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we don't know how to do it."

Percy shook his head. "But… we haven't been trained! It won't due either of us any good if only _parts_ of us make it!"

Penelope suddenly rounded on him. "I don't care! I can't stay here! Look around you! Everyone is dead! Everyone outside of this train is dead! All I see is blood and flesh and arms without bodies! Don't you smell that?! Don't you smell the burnt bodies?! I can't stay here! I can't! I can't! I can't! I can't! I can't…"

Percy shrank away as Penelope continued to howl and rage. This was not the same shy girl that he had known ten minutes ago, before all of this.

"Okay!" Percy yelled above the din that Penelope was creating. "Okay! We'll do it!" Percy was desperate to get her to stop talking about the carnage that surrounded them. He was suddenly very, very glad that he had lost his glasses. Percy took Penelope's hand again as the two turned to face the door. "I'll try it. Just hang on, okay?" Percy said as Penelope nodded.

Percy Apparated.


	3. Chapter 3

**A is for Atom**

Percy mercifully collapsed to the floor of the car as the pain caused his body convulse. He should have realized just how painful that was going to be; if simple movements like reaching for his wand made him hurt, it was nothing compared to the pulling sensation of Apparition. However, he seemed to be more-or-less whole and, after glancing quickly over Penelope, she appeared to be alright as well.

"Are you going to be okay?" Penelope asked as she helped him stand up.

Percy gritted his teeth, unable to say anything as he used every strength he had just to stand up properly. Penelope was holding on to him, making sure he didn't fall over. Was it just him or did the pain seem to be getting worse? He hadn't felt anything when he first woke up and now he could hardly move. Luckily, the wound on his head didn't hurt. Percy gently touched his face and realized that the whole left side of his face was numb. Well, at least it wasn't hurting.

"Percy? Is that you?"

Percy turned around, trying to locate the person who was talking with his right eye – the eye that wasn't covered with Penelope's jacket. He saw a familiar stocky blob with red hair.

In an instant the blob had made its way over to them and, as the blob came more in focus, Percy realized that it was Fred. He was shirtless. Percy noticed his shoulders and chest were a black charred mess; bits of what was once his patched and frayed shirt clung deep into the burns. Percy was about to say something, what he wasn't sure, but immediately closed his mouth when he saw Fred's expression. It was hard and blank and unmoving. It was frightening.

"I guess I should be glad you made Prefect; that badge was the only way I was able to recognize you." Fred said in a rather monotonous tone. It sounded so out of place. "George is dead."

"What?" Percy asked. What did Fred say? His ears were buzzing. He didn't say-

"George is dead."

For a second Percy couldn't breathe. He had lost one of them. They were his younger siblings, he was supposed to watch out for them, take care of them. And he had lost one of them. "Ginny?" Percy croaked out, deeply terrified of the answer.

Fred jerked his head to the blackened remains of a compartment. "She and Hermione were in there." Percy turned his head to look. Was she still in there? Was she injured and unable to call for help?

Percy hadn't even realized that he had walked over to the compartment until he felt his palm burn from the fire-hot door. He didn't take his hand off of it, however. Instead, he began to pry it open. Percy felt Penelope's vice-like grip clamp over his arm, stopping his panicked struggles with the door.

"Don't." She commanded.

"I have to know." He replied, not bothering to look at her.

"Look at the compartment, Percy. You already _know_."

Percy let go of the handle. She was right. Anyone that might be in there was dead now. Percy turned back to Fred. "Did Ron get on board? I can't remember if he was with us. He had to be though, right?"

Fred just shrugged. To Percy, he didn't seem to care one way or another.

_BANG! BANG!_

Percy and Penelope nearly jumped out there skins as they turned to look at the car exit. Something was banging heavily against it. All of sudden, the door swung on its hinges before bouncing off of the wall, black ashes falling to the ground from the fierce impact. In the doorway stood a very stocky, very tall, very masculine girl clutching a Beater's bat. Beside her was a blonde boy whom Percy recognized as Draco Malfoy. The two stood stock still for a moment as though they were surprised to see other people.

"Does anyone know a spell to put this back on?" Malfoy suddenly asked and Percy realized that he was clutching his severed left arm to his chest.

Percy looked to Fred who just stared at the two impassively. Penelope shook her head. Percy sighed, "I'm afraid not."

Malfoy nodded. "I think I'm going to sit down." The boy then crumpled to the floor. He drew his legs up while clutching his arm protectively.

Percy eyed the twelve-year-old kid critically. Percy had a good basic knowledge of first aid; looking after Fred and George, one would have to. Blood was steadily seeping out of the ragged stump, and Percy could tell that he had already lost a lot of blood. What was it that he needed to do? Percy tried to think, but that was something that was becoming harder to do. _Cauterize_, his brain supplied.

Percy knelt down beside Malfoy, drawing his wand. "I can't put your arm back, but I can stop the bleeding. This… this is going to hurt." The boy nodded his head as Percy placed the tip of his wand against what was left of his shoulder.

"_Incendio_."

Malfoy gritted his teeth as tears sprung to his eyes. Percy felt horrible, but it was the only thing he could do. He turned to look at the girl. "What's your name?" He asked.

The girl seemed to give him a searching look. "Bulstrode… Millicent." She finally answered.

Suddenly, he heard Penelope heave a frustrated sigh from somewhere behind him. "We need to get out of here. I want to get out of here." Penelope stated. Percy could hear the rising panic in her voice.

Percy nodded. "Yes, okay, we'll leave."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note – PLEASE READ! You know, I don't consider myself a review-whore, but you would think between all of the traffic and story alerts this fic has received _someone_ would have left a review. Come on, people, let's be courteous and review.

**A is for Atom**

"Will the rest of London look like this?" Millicent asked as Percy stood up. "Would it be better just to wait until the Ministry or the professors arrive?"

"If they arrive." Penelope said darkly. "How do we know that what happened here didn't happen at Hogwarts too? We don't know who did this. We don't know _how_ they did this. For all we know they could be coming back to finish us off! I am not staying here! I am not going to die in this train!"

"We're not going to die." Percy said quietly, hoping that it would bring some sense of calm to panicked girl. Penelope didn't look like she heard him, however; her feverish eyes were glancing around the charred remains of the train as though it were her tomb. "Who still has their wands?" Percy asked. He had to bring some sort of order to this situation.

Fred pulled his out of his back trousers pocket. "I've got mine."

Both Malfoy and Penelope shook their heads. "I'm left-handed." The shaking boy offered lamely while stealing a glance at his charred stump. Percy turned to look at Millicent who seemed to be rummaging around in the debris. Percy couldn't see exactly what she was doing, however.

"Millicent?" Percy asked.

The girl grunted before straightening up. She held up a wand dyed bright red. "_Lumos_." She whispered and watched as the tip of the wand lit up. "This one will do." She stated. "I've got one. And I've got my bat."

"That's… great, Millicent." Percy said haltingly. He turned to the others. "Please, move away from the wall."

Percy lifted his wand and pointed it at the side of the train. "_Confringo_." He commanded. He watched his spell hit the burnt metal, causing it to explode outward. It left a large hole, big enough for a person to squeeze through. One by one, the children filed out of the train with Penelope in the lead.

"Oh… Merlin…" Penelope breathed. Percy pulled himself out of the train with Fred's help and looked up to see what had caused such a reaction in Penelope. His jaw was left hanging open at the sight.

There was nothing left. Although Percy couldn't see very well without his glasses, he could definitely see that what was supposed to be there wasn't. The ground was just a sea of rubble; burnt bodies and skeletons were strewn across the blocks of brick and stone like they were nothing. Parts of a few buildings still stood; lone walls stood stark against the bright sunny day. It reminded Percy of the old, ancient ruins that you could find out in the country. Everything looked the same, Percy couldn't tell the difference between what was once Wizarding London and what was once Muggle London. Diagon Alley, Gringotts, the Ministry of Magic… everything was laid to waste. Percy had known that his mother had probably not survived, after all King's Cross had been obliterated; they were standing on all that was left of it. But he had hoped that the Ministry of Magic had managed to escape the… whatever, and with it his father. He needed his father; hell, at this point, he just needed an _adult_. What was he supposed to do? Where was he supposed to go?

"Fred! Percy!"

Percy turned his head to see a dark blob running towards them, occasionally stumbling on the rubble as it ran.

"Angelina?" Fred asked, curiosity coloring the dark and dull tone that his voice had taken on since the destruction of London.

Angelina came into view, panting and nodding at Fred's question. "I thought I was the only one left." She said.

"Are you hurt?" Percy asked. She shook her head.

"No. I'm alright… I'm alright." Angelina looked surprised as she said it, as though she just realized for the first time that she had survived. "What are we going to do?" She asked looking between Percy, Penelope, and Fred.

"I want to go home." Malfoy stated with a note of pathetic petulance.

"And what do you expect to find there?" Penelope demanded. "Your parents are just as dead as the rest of ours."

Malfoy shook his head. "No, my house-elf escorted me to King's Cross this year. Father and Mother couldn't make it because Aunt Lucretia suddenly took ill. They had to leave for Paris."

Penelope snorted. "So, they're in Paris. That still doesn't help us."

"Penelope!" Percy yelled, shocked at how blunt and cruel Penelope was being to a twelve year old boy who had just lost his arm. She had been the nicest person he had ever met; Never sarcastic or mean, never had a bad thing to say.

"Where do you live?" Angelina demanded.

"Wiltshire."

Angelina turned to Millicent. "What about you?"

"Lancashire." Millicent answered, confused as to what Angelina was getting at.

"London used to be my home." Angelina suddenly in a soft voice, before shaking the thought away. "And you're from Scotland, aren't you Clearwater? And I know the Weasleys are from Devon. It sounds like Malfoy's home is the best place to go. Wiltshire is closer, and he's got more resources at his disposal."

"Don't you think the Headmaster will be looking for us?" Millicent threw a glare at Penelope. "Shouldn't we just find shelter here and wait until he and the other professors come?"

Percy watched as Angelina's expression flit to fear before shifting into a carefully neutral expression. It was just a brief a second, he doubted anyone else caught it.

"No." Angelina said slowly and quietly. "I think it would be best if we got out of here as soon as possible."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Angelina seemed to know what she was talking about and Percy was glad that at least someone did. It was strange; he had wanted to become a Prefect because he had always liked bossing his younger siblings around. He was good at it, he knew how to keep them out of trouble, what it was that they needed to do. He wanted to be important, wanted people to look up to him. But this… He just felt infinitely relieved that he wouldn't have to lead them by himself.

As the group began to walk, he and Angelina fell a little ways behind the others. "Do you know what happened?" Percy asked in quiet whisper. "You seem like you understand what's going on."

Angelina looked guilty. "I do. I just… I don't want to worry anybody."

Percy shot her a look. "Do you mean we're still in danger?"

Angelina nodded. "Yes."


	5. Chapter 5

**A is for Atom**

Percy felt like they had been walking for days, although it couldn't have been more than an hour. He just felt so sluggish; all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep.

"I can't believe he's still carrying that." Penelope growled. Percy looked to his side and saw that Malfoy was still clutching his arm protectively to his chest. He wondered if Malfoy still thought that it was possible to reattach it.

Penelope turned her eyes to Percy. "Make him throw it away." She demanded in a whisper.

Percy turned to her, shocked. "What?! I'm not going to do that. He's a little kid who just watched his classmates _die_. That's his _arm_, Penelope." What was going on with her?

Penelope looked down at her feet; Percy could see the tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't take it… I can't take it… He shouldn't be carrying it around…" She muttered. Percy doubted that she was actually talking to him anymore.

He was starting to worry about her. Of course, he was worried about everyone. He didn't know what was coming next; Angelina wouldn't talk to him about it, not with the possibility of the others overhearing it. And Fred… Poor Fred, it was like he was just shell now. Didn't laugh, didn't talk. Was this just his way of coping? Percy didn't know. Percy didn't even know if _he_ was coping. He wondered where Ron was and if he was safe.

"Percy?"

Percy jumped when he heard Angelina's voice next to his ear. He looked around to see that he had fallen very far behind.

"Are you alright?" She asked, looking at him worriedly.

Percy nodded. "I think so… I-I just need to rest. Just a little bit. I feel like I can hardly move. Everything hurts."

Angelina bit her lip. Percy was sure she was going to say no.

"Stopping?" Malfoy demanded. "Are we stopping? Finally! I can't walk anymore." And with that Malfoy sat down right where he had been standing just a few moments ago.

"What? We can't stop!" Penelope shrieked. "We have to keep moving!" Her glance shifted from the blond Slytherin to the rubble and bodies surrounding them. She looked crazed.

"I'm telling you that I can't walk anymore!" Malfoy yelled back at the girl. "My head is hurting. Everything is getting fuzzy. I'm thirsty. Can't someone use _Aguamenti_ and get me something to drink? I'm dying of thirst!"

Percy realized that his own mouth felt like a desert. He supposed that it was the fear that kept him from noticing at first, but his whole body was craving water. And sleep. He could sleep forever.

Suddenly, Percy realized that both Angelina and Fred were staring at him intently. Had he dozed off while standing there?

"Nobody is getting any water until we are out of this place." Fred suddenly commanded. He was still staring at Percy, worry etched onto his face. Although Percy supposed that it was better than the dead blank expression that he had been wearing.

"What? How come?" Malfoy demanded.

"Whatever did this poisoned the water too. Not only from like the wells and stuff, but also the water that comes when we use the _Aguamenti_ spell." Fred explained. Everyone stared at him with puzzlement.

"Are you sure?" Angelina asked. "I never heard of something like that. How could it affect magic like that?"

"I don't know, but it's how George died." Fred said. His intent stare shifted from Percy to the ground. "After… after the _thing_, George was burnt… bad, but not bad enough to where he would have died. He could have lived! He could have lived if it wasn't for me! He begged me for water and I used the spell. He drank it... drank the water... and then he died." Fred looked back at Percy. He could see the pain and the guilt and the suffering that haunted Fred's eyes. Percy wanted to say something, try to bring some comfort to him even if he wasn't good at that sort of thing, but he couldn't. He was just too tired.

"I'll just have a little water, Fred. Not even a sip. That small amount won't hurt me, would it?" Fred opened his mouth to protest, but Percy cut him off. "I need to rest, Fred."

Percy sank down on the ground and carefully pulled away Penelope's jacket from his face. The entire thing was blood red. But that couldn't all be from him, could it? Suddenly, Fred was kneeling in front of him and had roughly taken the jacket from his hands. He carefully re-wrapped it around his head. "You need to leave this on." Fred gritted between his teeth. "You don't want to bleed everywhere. That would just be unseemly." Percy couldn't help but smile a little. It was a joke, a bad one, but a joke.

"Okay, we'll rest." Angelina said. She was looking at Malfoy who was already dozing off where he was sitting. Percy hadn't realized just how pale Malfoy had gotten.

"Percy, no." Fred said, a hint of panic beginning to seep into his voice. "You can't rest right now. That's… that's the worst thing you could do. I mean, what would the professors think with you sleeping on the job? You're a Prefect, you need to be… Prefect-y."

"Fred." Angelina commanded. "Stop. Look, we'll go over there where that wall is still standing. It should provide some shelter and… we can make Percy and Malfoy more comfortable."

Fred bit back a sob as the group helped the two most injured members up. Percy knew that Angelina suspected that he and Malfoy wouldn't last the day, but he honestly couldn't muster the energy to care.

HPHPHPHPHP

Author's Note – Just to make something clear, what Fred experienced was not poisoned water. An atomic bomb will suck moisture from your body leaving you severely dehydrated (if you survive that is). If you drink too much at one time, it will cause a shock to the system and you will die. This is actually how quite a large number of people died after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. Of course, Fred and the others wouldn't know that and why would they?


	6. Chapter 6

**A is for Atom**

He could smell smoke and heard the crackling of fire.

Percy blearily opened his eyes, glancing around him. _When did it get dark?_ Percy thought as he looked up at the night sky. Everyone was huddled around a fire that someone had conjured up next to the lone wall in a sea of rubble.

Fred was sitting right next to where Percy was lying, his back up against the wall, his head thrown back. Loud snores escaped his mouth as he slept. Millicent was also sleeping against the wall, next to Fred, bat still in hand and her head against his shoulder. Malfoy was lying close to the fire, completely still. It took a moment for Percy to find Penelope, but he saw a dark huddled mass lying in the shadows. She had chosen a spot away from the fire and the others. Everyone was asleep. Except for Angelina.

Angelina was staring darkly into the fire, poking it steadily with a stick.

"Angelina?" Percy called out in a whisper, trying not to wake the others.

Angelina whipped her head around and in a flash she was kneeling next to him. "You're awake!" She whispered excitedly. "How do you feel?"

"A lot better actually." Percy was surprised to find that there was some actual truth to that statement. He did feel better. The little bit of water that Fred had allowed him to drink had done wonders. He was still in a lot of pain and his whole face had gone numb- not just the left side anymore. Percy was not a Healer, but he knew that numbness was not a good sign. He felt stupid for not ever learning a good healing charm.

Angelina nodded. "I'm glad."

"How's everyone else?" Percy asked. Angelina bit her lip at his question, casting a furtive glance at Malfoy's direction.

"He fell asleep as soon as we gave him some water. I… I haven't seen him move in a long time." She answered. "I-I haven't… you know… _checked_… but I think…" She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

Percy's heart gave a jump at the implications of what she was saying, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind. He couldn't think about that right now. "Angelina… what is going on? Everyone is asleep now; you don't have to worry about them overhearing you."

Angelina bit her lip again, clearly not wanting to tell Percy what was happening. Whether or not she thought he couldn't handle it, he wasn't sure. She sighed. "It doesn't matter now. It's just… What happened… It's called an atomic bomb. I'm not exactly sure how scientists make one, but it's something about splitting an atom or merging two atoms together…"

Angelina trailed off when she noticed Percy just staring at her, not comprehending a word she was saying. "An atom is a tiny molecule… umm, it's like this tiny thing. So tiny that an ant couldn't even see it. It makes up everything around us. The buildings, the air, our bodies. Everything. Although they're all different, that's why we all look different. Umm, and when you mess with them, like splitting them or merging them, they create huge explosions. Like the one we just went through."

"And Muggles know how to use these? How to create these explosions?"

"Yes. But… when an atomic bomb goes off it does more than just blow things up. It creates radiation. Radiation is invisible; you can't see it or smell it, but it's there. And when people are near it… sometimes they get really sick. I mean, _really_ sick. They'll die."

Percy sucked in a breath. "That's why you didn't want to stop... I made us stop." He felt like he was going to throw up. Did he just sign everyone's death warrant?

Angelina shook her head. "I don't think it would have mattered if we had stopped or not. We'd already been out here for how long? Two hours? It was probably already too late. I don't think there's anything that we could have done if one of us gets sick. I was just… hoping that wasn't the case, I guess."

Somehow that didn't make Percy feel any better.

"Why did this happen?" Percy suddenly asked. This was something that he really wanted to know. If he and everyone he knew or cared about was going to die, he wanted to know why.

"There's been a lot of fighting going on between us and North Korea. The North Korean Muggle government had annexed South Korea and was threatening to invade some of the countries around it as well. We and the U.S. dropped some bombs on them and I guess they decided to retaliate. I know they tried to send a missile to the U.S., but it fell in the Pacific Ocean."

Percy blinked. "Oh. Somehow that doesn't seem worth… all of this." He gestured vaguely around them.

Angelina just shrugged. "Is anything?"

The two were silent for a few minutes, both of them just staring at the carnage around them. "Why didn't the Muggles warn the Minister of Magic that something like this could happen?" Angelina asked, turning back to look at Percy's prone form. "I thought the Muggle Prime Minister and our Minister talked or something."

Percy gave a wry smile. "The two only talk if it is something that the _Minister of Magic_ needs to tell the _Muggles_ about. The Muggle Prime Minister can't just Floo the Minister of Magic whenever there is a crisis in the Muggle World. I guess... I guess we just never thought something important could happen on that side that we would need to know about."

Angelina opened her mouth to say something, but before she could a sudden roar filled their ears. They turned to look and his eyes were immediately flooded with a bright light.

_Oh, God. Not again_.


	7. Chapter 7

**A is for Atom**

Screams erupted from the group as the bright lights flashed from the sky and the roaring sound grew louder.

Percy felt himself hauled to his feet; two sets of strong hands had grabbed a hold of each arm and lifted him up. It was Fred and Angelina. He could feel Fred pushing him, telling him to _move_. But his legs felt like jello; he couldn't even stand up on his own, let alone run anywhere.

A large crunching sound was heard as the bright lights suddenly shook and quivered, landing close on the ground near them. And then Percy could see what it was. It was a car. A blue car if he wasn't mistaken.

A blue flying car.

"Oh, Merlin." Percy breathed as realization dawned on him.

He saw Harry Potter tumble out of the passenger seat. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

_Ron!_

Ron wrenched the driver's side door open and frantically scrambled over toward the group. He looked witless with fear. They both did.

Percy felt himself pushed fully into Angelina's arms. He watched as Fred jerkily made his way to Ron, nearly crushing him in a fierce hug.

"Uh… Fred? Air?"

Fred ignored Ron's request to breathe and continued to hold him. Percy wished he could have walked over and done the same. As it was, he could feel Angelina strain to hold him up. Percy waved his hand, indicating that Angelina should just let him fall to the ground. She did, gently though. Percy breathed in deeply as he sat on the ground; he was suddenly very, very exhausted. But happy.

Fred finally let Ron go and Ron looked frantically at all of the faces in the group.

"Where's Ginny?" He blurted out.

Fred opened his mouth to say something, to explain, but Percy beat him to it. He was oldest, he should be the one to tell him. He didn't want Fred to have to carry that burden.

"Ron… Ginny, and George, and Hermione… They… they didn't make it." Percy said haltingly. He watched as Ron's face seemed to crumble in on itself. A chocked sob escaped his mouth.

"Why didn't you do something?" Ron demanded, looking straight at Percy's bandaged face.

"There wasn't anything anybody could do." Fred said quietly. Ron nodded his head and just stood there and sobbed.

Harry didn't cry, though. Percy saw his face shutter close, like Fred's had after the explosion.

"Excuse me." He whispered and walked behind the car. The distinct sound of retching could be heard.

"Hey, I think that Clearwater girl ran off!" Malfoy suddenly piped up from where he was sitting.

Everyone turned to look at where Malfoy was sitting. Percy hadn't even realized that he had gotten up with the rest of them. He heard Millicent growl in the back of her throat like she was some sort of wild animal. The girl suddenly took off running into the dark, bat in hand. "Millicent!" He yelled out after her, but she ignored his call. He bit his lip as he watched her run into the night. He was sincerely worried that she was going to beat Penelope to death with her bat when she found her.

Angelina hadn't noticed what Millicent was doing, however. Her eyes were fixed on Malfoy. She made a strangled noise somewhere in the back of her throat. "Oh, my God! You're _alive_!"

Malfoy threw her a horrified look. "What do you mean by _that_?! Did you think I was _dying_?! And… and what? You weren't going to do anything about it?!"

"No! I mean… well…" Angelina faltered, still stuck somewhere between the fact that this twelve year old kid _hadn't_ died on her watch. That she wasn't responsible for a child's death. Percy understood the feeling. He was feeling it too. "So!" Angelina said, turning to face the other members of the group. She looked desperate to avoid Malfoy's hard gaze. "We still need to get to Wiltshire as soon as possible. Let's load up in the car."

Harry returned from behind the Ford Anglia. "We're leaving already?" He asked, his voice hoarse. He wiped his sleeve against his mouth.

Malfoy threw a frightened look at the car. "I've never been in one of those things before… Can't we just walk?"

"You can't walk." Angelina explained. "Not for very long, anyway. And neither can Percy. With a car you'll be able to just sit there. The car does all the work. Besides, I'm pretty sure this thing runs on magic, not on Muggle means, so it's safer. Most cars don't fly."

Malfoy reluctantly nodded his head, still unsure.

Fred and Angelina opened up all of the doors before grabbing a hold of Malfoy and helping him into the backseat. As they were making Malfoy more comfortable, a feat that sounded near impossible to Percy's ears by the complaints the boy was making, Millicent returned with Penelope.

Millicent, who resembled an angry black-haired bull at the moment, was forcibly dragging Penelope by her arm. When Penelope locked eyes with Percy she immediately wrenched her arm out of the girl's grip and ran over to him. "I thought you were dead!" She breathed.

"There seems to be a lot of that going around!" Malfoy's voice piped up from the back of the car.

The two ignored him, however. Tears were leaking from Penelope's eyes. She fiercely grabbed on to Percy's arm. "I'm sorry! I just got so scared! I didn't mean to run off!"

Fred came up to the two and snorted derisively at Penelope's apology. "Whatever. Just get in the car."

Eventually, everyone had managed to squeeze into the car. Angelina was at the helm; she was the only one who had any sort of driving experience other than Ron and his brief stint at controlling the car earlier that day. Percy, Ron and Harry were also in the front seat with Fred, Millicent, Penelope, and Malfoy in the back.

Angelina took off, flying high. Percy looked out the window and saw the hole in the ground that had once been London. He then turned to Ron. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly.

Ron shot him a look. "What sort of question is that?"

Percy grimaced. "I… I meant you aren't injured or anything, are you?"

"No." Ron shook his head. "The barrier was… closed for some reason. Me and Harry couldn't get to the platform. So we decided to take Dad's car and just fly to Hogwarts. We were high up looking for the Hogwarts Express when it happened. The… the wind, I guess knocked the car around and around in the air, but we weren't hurt."

"I saw the mushroom cloud." Harry breathed. "It was just like history class."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note – I want to thank everyone who reviewed. Unfortunately my email was on the fritz so I couldn't send out personal replies. But, I'll just thank everyone here. Thank you!

**A is for Atom**

"We should be there soon." Malfoy said from the back seat. He was staring out the window.

Angelina nodded tersely. She was completely focused on getting everyone to Malfoy Manor as quickly as possible.

Dawn had broken over the horizon and most of the kids had fallen asleep, with the exception of Malfoy, Percy, Fred, and Angelina. Angelina was flying of course and Malfoy was giving directions. Percy had tried to doze off, but every time he did he felt a jab in the back of his head that he was pretty sure was Fred's finger. Maybe he was just being too quiet for Fred. Maybe he was just making sure that he wasn't… you know, _dead_.

"Ouch!" Percy grumbled as he felt another jab.

"Sorry." Fred said from the backseat. He didn't sound the least bit sorry to Percy. Of course, Fred _never_ actually sounded sorry when he apologized.

Percy settled back down in his seat and closed his eyes again only to open them a second later. Someone was humming. Not only was it annoying, but Percy felt that it was extremely inappropriate. There should be no humming when one has just survived from getting blown up and is now fleeing the city in terror.

"Whoever that is stop it." Percy said in his most pompous voice, which turned out to not to be not so pompous when one's voice sounded like rough gravel.

"Stop what?" Fred asked. "The poking?"

"No- well, _yes_, but no. That humming. Whoever's humming stop it."

Angelina looked at him. "No one's humming."

Percy blinked. "You mean, you don't all hear that?"

Everyone strained to listen. There definitely was a humming sound coming from somewhere. "No, I hear it too." Malfoy said. "What is it? Is the car about to fall out of the sky? I _knew_ we shouldn't have gotten into this thing…"

"No, it's not the car." Fred said. "It sounds like its coming from somewhere outside."

Everyone immediately began to search the skies for the source of the sound. Percy tried to peer through the thick clouds, but couldn't see anything really.

And then the glint of something gray and metal.

Percy had taken three years of Muggle Studies. Even with his blurred vision he knew an airplane when he saw one.

"That… that looks like a military plane." Angelina said. Her voice was tight with fear.

"British military or Korean military?" Percy asked.

"I don't know, but let's not stick around to find out."

The airplane had sidled up next to the car. Percy could see that the man was looking straight at them. He couldn't see the expression on his face because of mask he was wearing, but he could imagine just what it must be like for a Muggle to be flying next to a car.

A turquoise Ford Anglia car, for that matter.

The airplane suddenly fell back and disappeared. Percy immediately began to look around the skies for it once more.

_TAT! TAT! TAT! TAT! TAT_!

"DUCK!" Angelina screamed.

Percy didn't know what he was doing but he suddenly found himself grabbing a hold of Ron and Harry's collars, barely awake and yelling, and shoving them to the floorboard. He fell on top of them, covering them with his body in preparation for whatever was to come. He saw a few tiny holes appear in the metal door. They just exploded outward, much like the side of the train had when Percy had used _Confringo_ only much smaller.

"FUCK!" Angelina screamed again and Percy turned to see that her arm was now bright red. Percy barely had time to understand what was happening before he felt the car just suddenly _drop_.

They were falling. And quickly.

Percy buried his face in Ron's back, squeezing his eyes tightly against the impact. Then it stopped. They hadn't landed. The slight rocking from side to side told him they must still be in the air. He turned to see that Angelina had once again gained control.

She was only gripping the steering wheel with one arm though. The other was lying on her lap, bloodied.

"They shot at us! I can't believe _they shot at us_!" She was screaming. Percy could see the panic on her face.

"Oh, God… Oh, God… Oh, God…" Percy didn't have to look behind him to know that it was Penelope who was obsessively chanting to herself the mantra of "Oh, God."

They were starting panic.

"Angelina!" Percy yelled, trying to get the girl's attention. Angelina looked down at him. She looked wild. "We have to land! Move over! I'll trade places with you."

It took a moment for her to register what he was saying. After a couple of deep breaths, she shook her head. "No… Don't worry about it. I got it. There's a field up ahead. I'll land it there."

It took only a few short moments for Angelina land the car in the grassy meadow. Everyone tumbled out; Percy could hear the short sobs of Penelope and the quick breaths of Malfoy. He turned to Angelina.

"How bad is your arm?" He asked. It was impossible to tell what kind of damage was done with all the blood.

"I think… I think its going to be okay." Angelina said. The pain was evident on her face, however. "They got me twice, but its just my arm. Nothing major. I just can't think about it."

"Hey!" Malfoy called out. "The manor is just up ahead! We can contact Hogwarts through Floo and I'm sure Dobby will be able to heal us."

Percy took Penelope's hand as they began to walk. Although everyone else did their best to push the horrible episode out of their minds, she still seemed a little hysterical. Her sobs remained constant and she refused to look at anybody. He noticed Harry and Ron move a little ways to the side.

"Dobby?" Harry whispered to Ron. They both had the same incredulous expression on their faces. Percy was pretty sure that it had nothing to do with the airplane, however.


	9. Chapter 9

**A is for Atom**

With a rush the children descended onto the manor.

"DOBBY!" Malfoy yelled at the top of his lungs as the group entered the grand foyer. "GET OUT HERE!"

With a pop the house elf appeared. His large green eyes stared at the group in shock. If it was possible his eyes grew even wider when he saw Harry Potter standing among the other children.

"We need help. Go to Hogwarts. Get the professors." Fred commanded.

"And be sure to send for my parents." Malfoy said before turning his attention to Fred. "The potion cupboard is through there. Follow me."

Fred nodded and he, Percy, and Angelina followed him through the hall with Penelope right behind them. After a moment Ron trailed after his brothers, leaving Harry and Millicent alone.

Harry stole a glance at the larger girl who was looking out the window with a hard stare, her grip on the bat was tight.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked.

"For now." She said without even bothering to look at him. "But, if they come, I want to be sure I'm ready…"

"What do you think you'll be able to do?" Harry asked.

At this Millicent did look back. "Whatever it takes. Why did you think you could take on the Dark Lord last year?"

Harry blushed. "To be fair I thought it was Snape that wanted the Philosopher's Stone."

Millicent shrugged and turned to continue to look out the window. "Okay, why did you think you could take on a powerful grown wizard and Potions Master?"

"I don't know." Harry said. For a second he continued to stand around before moving over next to her to help her with her vigil.

HPHPHPHPHP

Percy felt Fred's hands on his face.

"What are you doing?" He asked. He felt something fall away from his face, but what he couldn't tell.

"Nothing. I just removed the jacket so I can put some healing ointment on your face."

Percy confused. "Then why can't I still not see out of that eye?"

Percy watched as Fred stilled. "You mean you haven't realized?"

"Realized what?"

"Oh God, where's your eye?!"

Percy jerked his head to see Ron staring there in open mouthed horror. Percy's hand flew up to the left side of his face but all he felt was a bloody, mutilated mess. Percy felt his insides go cold. What did it look like? How could he go on for so long with half his face missing?

"Percy!" Angelina ordered. "You cannot go into shock now. Ron, can you put the ointment on Percy's face? I need Fred to help me remove the bullets."

"Me?" Ron squeaked. He looked queasy at the sight of all the blood.

Fred handed him the ointment. "You have to." He said before moving over to Angelina.

Ron moved cautiously towards Percy. Percy narrowed his good eye at his youngest brother, suddenly angry at him in a way that he thought only the twins on a bad day could leave him.

"Just give me the healing ointment if you can't do it." Percy growled. He wanted to snatch the bottle from his brother's hands but realized that his loss of blood and lack of depth perception would probably just cause him to fall face first onto the floor if he tried.

Ron's face grew steely at his brother's tone. "No. I can do it." He moved over and helped Percy sit down on one of Malfoy's gilt chairs.

Angelina looked up at Fred's bare chest. "We're going to have to do something about those burns."

"To be honest I kind of forget they were there." Fred said as he inspected Angelina's bullet-ridden arm. With Percy's wand he summoned the bullets out of the Chaser's flesh. Angelina let loose a howl of pain. Fred sat there while she let it all out, rubbing her back in comfort.

After a moment Angelina was able to gain some semblance of control. "Those burns are bad. The healing ointment won't be able to do much for it." She took a couple of deep breaths and glanced at Fred and Malfoy. "If the professors don't get here soon we'll have to treat them ourselves. I don't know how Healers fix burns this bad. But Muggles… we'll need to scrub the dead skin from your bodies." She grimaced as Fred rubbed in some of the healing ointment into her arm. "It's going to be painful."

Malfoy swore as he looked around the small room that stored his family's potions. "Dammit, I think Clearwater's wandered off again. I could have sworn she followed us in here. If she touches anything with her dirty Halfblood hands, Dad is going to be pissed."

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Ron yelled.


End file.
